Unsolved Female Homicides in Michiana... a disturbing reality

Eric LaMont Gregory

... both Sarah Gibbs and Desirae Jones, were killed to conceal the inappropriatenature of the sexual relationship between them and their killers

Sex-for-Aid Scandal May Derail Both Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton

﻿On or about the 19th of December 2014, the names Desirae Jones of Bremen and Sarah Gibbs of Warsaw, were added to a growing and frankly troubling list of unsolved female homicides in Northwest Indiana, an area known by its portmanteau, Michiana. Michiana describes a region of the North Central (Great Lakes) States, where southwest Michigan, northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois converge. It can also be understood as the eastern sector of the Chicago Metroplex.

In any investigation, how one frames the questions to be answered has a significant impact on the way one approaches the evidence that is considered relevant to the question at hand. As an illustration, consider a restatement of the introductory sentence above.

On or about the 19th of December 2014, the names Desirae Jones and Sarah Gibbs of Marshall and Kosciusko Counties, respectively, were added to a growing and frankly troubling list of unsolved female homicides that have occurred along the US Route 30 corridor, an east–west arterial surface road in northern Indiana.A slight alteration in the description of the geographic area in which these two murders occurred adds a possible association with the hundreds of highway serial killers that the FBI estimates are active in the USA today. Consider I-45 in Texas, if you will.

The names Jones and Gibbs became known homicides on or about the date mentioned above, but that is not to say that they became homicides on that day, in fact Desirae Jones was murdered some days before her burnt body was discovered, concealed in a thicket off Grape Road in Bremen.

Although, it is beyond the scope of this introductory foray into the circumstances of these two unsolved homicides, nevertheless the missing classification assigned in the Desirae Jones case, when she was thought to be a missing person/runaway, is of interest. In light of the fact that missing persons are classified by the police into one of several probable cause options, namely, accidents, wandered off/lost, runaway, unknown and foul play suspected.The reader is referred to another article on this site: The Lists - the Missing and Unsolved Homicides, for further clarification. http://www.theoxfordscientist.com/the-lists---the-missing-and-unsolved-homicides.htmlAt the inception of a murder investigation, a law enforcement officer is very much like a doctor. Desirae Jones was 15 and Sarah Gibbs 34 (although it is often stated that Sarah Gibbs looked much younger, say 24 years of age). A doctor first considers the most usual complaints that a person of a specific age and gender presents, and then begins the process of differential diagnosis, the scientific practice of medicine, to uncover the nature of the untoward circumstances of the specific patient.

The law enforcement officer, detective, considers, like their medical counterpart, the accumulated statistical evidence as to the circumstances surrounding the murders of 15-year-olds and 34-year-olds who look 24. At the same time, they begin the process of practicing criminologists and gather the evidence that leads them to a suspect, id est, a person or persons of interest, who possess the means, opportunity and motive to commit the crime, the homicide.

Profiling plays a significant part, especially when a murder investigation begins to occupy months, and not the TV version of the all-important first 48 hours. In the case of Sarah Gibbs, for instance, a criminal profiler might conclude reasonably, that the perpetrator was a white male between the ages of 55 and 60.

In regard to the statistical evidence concerning female homicides in general, the most glaring fact is that in most instances, the victim knows their assailant. Therefore, the investigating officer tries to identify all known or even casual contacts the victims might have had in the days and weeks leading up to their murder. And, given the proximity of these two murders in space and time, it begs the question if the victims knew one another. Conversely, even if they did not known one another, it is of interest to know if there is an individual who interacted with both Desirae and Sarah.

One of the apparent motives associated with both these murders is concealment, that is, to hide a secret. It is obvious that the murderer or murderers in these cases sought to conceal evidence associated with the crimes by burning the bodies. The murderer sought to destroy both the physical and any DNA evidence linked to the crime. But, it is not beyond the realm of feasibility that the killing of the second victim, Sarah Gibbs, was to conceal the murder of the first victim, Desirae Jones, because as soon as Sarah Gibbs would have heard about the murder of Desirae Jones, some specific individual's name would be linked to the victim's.Sarah Gibbs was murdered shortly after the nearly week-old burnt remains of Desirae Jones's were discovered in a wooded area in Bremen, approximately 30 miles from Warsaw. Bremen and Warsaw both lie along the US Route 30,east–west arterial highway corridor.

There is also reason to believe that the murderer in the Gibbs case was recently incarcerated in one of our many criminal academies, prisons. The burning of a murder victim's body is a troubling trend in homicides across the United States, and is a result of so many criminals having been brought to justice solely on DNA evidence. Particular reference is made to a recent case in Columbus, Ohio, however that case, it should be remembered, is but one of many recent examples of this troubling phenomenon.

One of the key pieces of evidence the police are working with is the nature of the arson (the fires set to burn the bodies), and this will fall under the category of information not released to the public, because it is known only by the murderer(s) and the investigators.

The question the investigators seek to answer is, were the fires set in haste, as would result from someone who found themselves in circumstances hurdling out of control. If so, that would suggest a younger assailant, and that would lead the police to scour through the records of individuals with a history of animal cruelty.

If the burning of the bodies showed signs that the perpetrator(s) was unhurried, and done in a deliberate and calculating manner, the evidence is that the murderer more closely fits the criminal profile description above. And, in furthering the idea of a connection between the two murders, such information as the nature of the accelerant used (were they the same) is paramount, and as stated would fall under the category of information not released to the public.If any or all the DNA material was rendered unusable by exposure to direct flames or the intense heat of the fires set, the investigators still have access to a wealth of valuable forensic evidence, such as, when did the victim have their last meal, what was it, and where was it consumed. In addition, the police will endeavor to discover what was the last purchase the victims made, what did they buy, where, how did they pay, and how did they travel to from the point of purchase.

Information of this nature helps to establish one of the important boundaries in a murder investigation, that is, to know when and where the victim was, when they were last known to be alive. Where were they, how did they get there, what did they do there, with whom did they interact, how did they leave and where were they going? And, in each instance, were they alone or accompanied?In addition, there are the facts associated with the murder scene, and again, this falls under the category of information known only to the authorities and the perpetrators, as to whether the place where the bodies were found is one and the same as where the murders actually occurred. And, this fact relates both to the Jones and Gibbs cases. Where is the Jones murder scene?

The answers to these questions, when they are known, and the details of the chain of evidence associated with the crimes are recorded in a murder book.

There is the possibility that the murders were linked and separate at the same time. In that case, from an investigator's point of view, we are confronted with the worst case scenario, we are dealing with Leopold and Lobe.

If, the national homicide solution rate is indicative of either or both the murder of Desirae Jones or Sarah Gibbs, there is a 64% chance, with all due respect to the family and friends of the victims, that either or both murders will ever be solved.

One, if not both of the murder victims, Sarah and Desirae, was vulnerable, due to known medical conditions.

Those who are autistic in our society are more likely, and significantly so, to be victims of crime than is the non-autistic population. There are societies which exist with the specific purpose to draw attention to this fact, but this author is unaware of any official response by the authorities to this appalling circumstance, where the weakest members of our communities are prey and are preyed upon.

Rewards, for information leading to the solution of the Jones and Gibbs homicides have been posted.

But, offering rewards for information to solve crimes is a curious thing, actually.

In a recent meeting in Elkhart, concerning police and community relations, attended by the morally oblique constant campaigner, Joe Donnelly, those assembled concluded that members of the community were reluctant to provide information to the police about crimes, and murders specifically, for one of two reasons - fear of retribution on the one hand, and apathy on the other.

If that were true, the police would know, as a result of the rapport they have established with the community, resulting from their long-standing community policing efforts, who within any given community might present such a threat. And, that individual would be easily recognized and brought to justice.

What is missing from the fear of retribution and apathy scenario is a third element, and that is the actual nature of the relationship between the police and the community. When that relationship is good, citizens do not fear other citizens or the police. When the relationship is not good, you have a cluster of unsolved female homicides throughout Michiana, and the public must offer rewards with the hope that money will do what policing is unable to, solve murders.

There is also every reason, as a working assumption, to consider that both these murders were sex crimes.

And, both the lead homicide investigator in the Jones and in the Gibbs case are under the opinion that they know, or will come to know, any and all sex offenders that might have come into contact with either or both murder victims.

However, as we shall discover, nothing could be further from the truth. And, the reasons for that statement are delved into after we propose another key element in murder investigations, that is, a working hypothesis.Institutions sometimes change their names, but for clarity let's look at the way The Behavioral Science Unit of he FBI at Quantico, Virginia (now, The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit (BRIU) teaches investigatory hypothesis development.We enter the realm of the Null Hypothesis. And, it ought to be understood that the null, is the foundation upon which the uniquely American legal concept of presumed innocent rests.The hypothesis, the information we wish to test is this:

The murders of Sarah Gibbs and Desirae Jones are connected, that is to say, they are linked in a way that the solution to the one is the solution to the other. That statement of our hypothesis is clear and unequivocal.

To test that hypothesis, we begin by constructing the null of that statement, that is, the murders of are not linked. And, it is that hypothesis that we attempt to prove. Only when we cannot prove they are not connected, does it lend credence that our original hypothesis, that they are connected.

Let's go through that again, and discuss just how the null helps protect the presumption of innocence.

There is a sequence in the Hollywood film, The Double starring Richard Gere, in which the FBI is trying to discover the identity of a Russian mole in the intelligence apparatus of the United States.

A statistician in the film is trying to help an FBI agent construct a testable hypothesis, a testable hypothesis that is in keeping with the American system of jurisprudence. So, he uses as an illustration, let's say that we think Bill Clinton is the Russian mole. Then we construct the null of that argument, Bill Clinton is not the Russian mole, and that is what we attempt to prove.

We presume that Bill Clinton is innocent, and we do everything that we can to prove that he is innocent.

The fact that a suspect's fingerprints are found on the fatal weapon that was shared with his compatriots, does not make at him the shooter. I grew up in an era when the trajectory of a single bullet was the difference between a lone gunman and a coup d'etat. Or, that the neurobiological evidence shows his eyes going up and to the left when he made the statement, I am a patsy. His eyes did not move up and to the right, which would indicate a false response .

To restate our hypothesis: The murders of Sarah Gibbs and Desirae Jones are connected, that is to say, they are linked in a way that the solution to the one is the solution to the other.

We have constructed the null hypothesis that states that Jones and Gibbs do not share any common associations or interactions that would have brought them into contact with the same person or persons, and that their murders, therefore do not share the same characteristics.

We then analyze the data trying to prove the null. If we prove it then our hypothesis is incorrect, false. The murders are not linked.

Then we start the process again, knowing that the murders were not connected. Sarah Gibbs and Desirae Jones were killed independently and separately.

The null in the Desirae Jones murder investigation would then read a follows: Desirae Jones was not killed by a male assailant.

Before, moving away from the linked murders hypothesis entirely, if you are a child with certain conditions or impairments as it were that make it difficult, if not impossible, for one to lead as independent a life as is possible in modern America, while you are a student and before you reach a certain age, a plethora of services and assistance is made available to you and your caretakers.However, when you reach graduation or that certain and specific age everything changes. Now, you or your caretakers must interact with a host of municipal, county, and increasingly regional, state and federal agencies and departments to receive the same level of services and assistance, if it is available to you.One parent described the circumstances of interacting with the sheer number of different agencies as a full-time job.The first null has not been proved false, because, to date, it cannot be stated categorically that even from the realm of officialdom that there was no one person who interacted with both murder victims. And, there is no evidence that there is no one from the general population that interacted with both murder victims.

What can be stated, perhaps, what ought to be stated, is that both Sarah Gibbs and Desirae Jones, whether they were killed by the same or different assailants, were both killed to conceal the inappropriate nature of the sexual relationship between them and their killers.

And, that will be borne out by the facts, as and when they are known.

As mentioned, across the United States there are numerous sex offenders that are unknown to most American communities as well as police authorities.

During the first Reagan Administration, as this author began the third wave of what was to become a decades-long international career, there were consistent and persistent allegations that American and British aid workers globally systematically sexually abused aid recipients.

The allegations of aid worker misconduct in the hundreds and hundreds detailed numerous incidents of pedophilia and rape.For more than to two decades, whenever these allegations arose, the aid agencies would conduct internal investigations, the results of which, in every instance, was to declare the allegations unfounded and most likely the result of a few disgruntled aid recipients. The American and British aid agencies, CARE, Oxfam and the like, are the official partners of USAID and, before a name change, the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) of the United Kingdom. These charities (franchises in actual fact) are financed by tax dollars to carry out humanitarian and other relief and development efforts for, and on behalf of the largess of the American and British people. And yet, both organisations have accumulated assets in the billions of dollars and Pounds Sterling.For decades American and British citizens, aid workers, extracted sex under the color of authority, the threat to withhold food, clothing and shelter from those who were suddenly and often violently displaced, forced to flee natural or man-made disasters. When these aid workers return to the USA and the UK they are involved in every aspect of social life. They work with children and other vulnerable citizens, but they do not appear on any register of offenders.And yet remarkably, the lead investigators in the Jones and Gibbs cases are confident that they know or will know any and all sex offenders who may have come into contact with one or both victims in these cases.It should be remembered that there would be no sex-traffic industry, if there were no clients.

The prestigious Guardian newspaper of London, published an article entitled Blood Money, in which the writer details how an early 20-ish something, first time in the field human rights worker came of have a tax-free salary of 25,000 dollars a month. The Guardian, like The Times and the Daily Telegraph, are the premier newspapers of Britain, and not not to be confused with the sensationalist tabloids that were Romney's undoing on his overseas trip, during which he made no gaffes, no mistakes, and no ill-advised statements.

To understand how a 20-ish year old with little experience can earn 25,000 a month from tax payer money one has to understand what is known a the international system.

There are three components to the international system, the UN, national government international (overseas) development agencies, and charities (however, the status of these groups, such as CARE and Oxfam, the private partners of national government international relief and development agencies, are worth closer scrutiny).

It is interesting that now-presidential-hopeful Rand Paul, should suggest that America re-evaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia, because of the rape of a Saudi woman and her subsequent treatment, when American aid workers have raped aid recipients for decades and there is no call for a re-evaluation of the relationship between USAID and their partner agency charities which employ the abusers. Especially, considering the fact that Paul is part of the government, the Congress, that supplies the funds to USAID, but has not exercised any oversight of the relationship with these private groups which have done such damage to the image of the US.Just as the suicide-driven plane crash involving Germanwings Flight 9525 has many rethinking the actual fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the sex-for-aid scandal will inevitably lead to a re-evaluation of the circumstances surrounding why the UNHCR facility and the UNICEF office in Quetta were set ablaze.

Jobs, and these are massive jobs programs that operate outside the realm of fair employment and equal opportunity law and regulation, within the working agencies of the UN; UNICEF, UNEP and the like, are distributed according to the contribution that each country makes to the budget of the UN working agency. Such that, The US pays 25%, the UK 17% and Germany and France 8% each.

Therefore, 58% of all the workers within these agencies will be either American, British, German or French, with the rest of the world making up the other 42% of the employees.

The way one gets employed by one of the working agencies of the UN, if you are an American, British, German or French is the same as being employed by one of the national charities that are the partner agencies of that country's international development agency. Therefore, the explanation for the one, is the explanation for the other.

Like Washington lobbyists, the people who get hired by the US charity partners of USAID are the sons and daughters, other relatives, friends and contributors to the individuals who write them glowing references, and who can help maintain the relationship between these charities and USAID which accounts for the billions of tax dollars which flow into the coffers of these charities each and every year. These charity groups' administrative cost to assistance delivery ratio is appalling by any standard of measurement, but one must remember that these are massive jobs programs for the sons and daughters, other relative and friends of the WHO's/WHO of American public and private life.

Senators, federal and state; representatives, state and federal; cabinet members, federal and state; Governors, mayors, judges of every level, business, military and religious leaders, sports franchise owners, entertainment industry moguls are the writers of the glowing references for the members of their immediate families, other relatives and friends, and, who provide the political wherewithal to maintain the special relationship between USAID and the charities that employ them.This group, the WHO's/WHO of American society, unfortunately does not represent a cross section of America. But, more resemble the members of the fraternity and sorority houses whose behavior has compelled universities increasingly to cease their operations and close their doors. The racial views of this WHO's/WHO group, at large, is not impressive when viewed in terms of tolerance, fairness and inclusiveness.

When their sons and daughters, other relatives and friends arrive at the location of aid delivery in some foreign land, they must first confront the rather obvious fact that people of color are by no discernible means minorities on this planet. They are however, as a whole, not very well morally grounded and find themselves with absolute power over people they have always been taught are not quite as good as they are. And, the apple never falls far from the tree, and they treat the aid recipients, just as their great grandparents treated those over whom they exercised absolute control over, inhumanly poorly.

Just as the genetic footprint of the brutality of some of those from whom this current group of aid workers descended, dots every community in the United States, the genetic footprint of the decades-long sex-for-aid scandal, dots the globe.

Every President, Secretary of State and Director of USAID has been aware fully, of the consistent and persistent nature of the sex-for-aid allegations since the first Reagan Administration, but it was not until 2002, when hundreds of video recordings of the abuse were turned over to investigators that the aid agencies could no longer claim the allegations to be the result of a few disgruntled aid recipients.

The evidence suggests that hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of American and British aid workers participated in the sexual abuse, and thousands upon thousands knew (know) of the debauchery and have remained silent.These individuals have and continue to work for the State Department and its international assistance and development agency, they have worked in every federal and state government department and associated partner agencies for the past three decades, they are the leaders of the American charities who are the recipients of American tax dollars. They work for senators and representatives, both state and federal, they work for governors, mayors, major businesses, religious institutions, academia, and at all levels of our educational system. And, much of this access was granted due to the sterling work, although un-examined, they did as aid workers abroad.

They work with and for presidential hopefuls, and here is the rub, that a sex scandal and the same sex scandal would potentially derail the front-runners.Chapter four of the soon to be released book, The Ultimate Vanishing Act, details the depth of sex abuse of aid recipients during the tenure of Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State during Clinton's second term. It was during this period that the original videotape recordings of the sexual abuse by aid workers were made available to investigators. The chapter also reveals that fact that the victims have a right to sue their abusers and the agencies they worked for in the American courts.But, legal remedies do not address the more immediate public concern that so many people, who have used there positions as aid providers to exploit sexually some of the most vulnerable people imaginable, have simply disappeared into the general population.